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Taking direct aim at Microsoft, Cisco plans to acquire WebEx Communications for $3.2 billion. Under the agreement, Cisco will purchase all of the outstanding shares of WebEx for $57 per share. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2007. The deal dramatical...

Microsoft confirmed that it plans to acquire Tellme, a privately held speech recognition vendor. The deal gives Microsoft functionality in Tellme's core competencies: voice-activated nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search. Founded in 1999, Tellme...

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration is setting aside close to $1 billion to help consumers who will be forced to migrate to digital television after February 17, 2009 -- when analog broadcasting is scheduled to cease. The Digital Television Transit...

Cisco and IBM are expanding their long-standing partnership with the extension of their Global Services Alliance into 46 new countries. The two partner firms collaborate on many initiatives and products. The expansion of this particular initiative suggests that it is going exactly as the companies p...

As part of its crackdown on fraudulent e-mails promoting bogus investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended securities trading of 35 companies that have been the subject of such e-mails. Sometimes called pump-and-dump schemes, these e-mails typically urge the recipient to buy a ...

Research In Motion will take a $250 million charge to reduce previously reported GAAP earnings going back to 2004 to account for backdated stock options. The Canadian wireless device maker is reshuffling management as a result of the restatement, with co-CEO Jim Balsillie stepping down from his role...

As the Microsoft v. AT&T case wound its way through the U.S. court system, warnings abounded that an adverse ruling could seriously complicate software companies' global manufacturing and sales strategies. This theory was reinforced by a federal court jury decision, which ordered Microsoft to pa...

As the Microsoft v. AT&T case wound its way through the U.S. court system, warnings abounded that an adverse ruling could seriously complicate software companies' global manufacturing and sales strategies. This theory was reinforced by a federal court jury decision, which ordered Microsoft to pa...

As the Microsoft v. AT&T case wound its way through the U.S. court system, warnings abounded that an adverse ruling could seriously complicate software companies' global manufacturing and sales strategies. This theory was reinforced by a federal court jury decision, which ordered Microsoft to pa...

AOL is extending the time period in which Swedish online marketer TradeDoubler can consider its acquisition offer. AOL, a unit of Time Warner, in January offered to buy the firm for $900 million in cash with an acceptance offer to expire Feb. 19. The new deadline is March 14. Fund manager Alecta, Tr...

A federal jury has ordered Microsoft to pay $1.52 billion to Alcatel-Lucent for infringing on two patents that convert audio into the digital MP3 file format. One of the largest patent awards on record, Microsoft has said the ruling could also impact companies that have licensed this technology, inc...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Wednesday for a patent case that could impact how manufacturers configure and sell computers overseas, and to what extent U.S. patent laws can be enforced in foreign countries. Called Microsoft v. AT&T, the software industry is aligning behind Mic...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Wednesday for a patent case that could impact how manufacturers configure and sell computers overseas, and to what extent U.S. patent laws can be enforced in foreign countries. Called Microsoft v. AT&T, the software industry is aligning behind Mic...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Wednesday for a patent case that could impact how manufacturers configure and sell computers overseas, and to what extent U.S. patent laws can be enforced in foreign countries. Called Microsoft v. AT&T, the software industry is aligning behind Mic...

CEO Steve Ballmer has cautioned Wall Street that analysts' fiscal year 2008 expectations for Windows Vista sales may be too "optimistic" and "overly aggressive." Vista is more of an opportunity to sustain Windows revenue -- not necessarily grow it, Ballmer reportedly said Thursday during a meeting f...

MySpace has launched a pilot project that will help the popular social networking site identify uploaded content that may infringe on someone's copyright. Its new content management and antipiracy system, which it licensed from Audible Magic, can recognize certain uploaded copyrighted content, match...

Music company EMI Group is reportedly in talks with online retailers about providing its digital music catalog in an unprotected MP3 format, allowing downloaded songs to be played on multiple devices. The company is in talks with RealNetworks, eMusic, MusicNet and Viacom's MTV Networks. This follows...

Wal-Mart Stores has launched a new service providing movies and television episodes for sale online. The company will offer about 3,000 movies and TV shows on the beta version of the online download store, at price points that -- true to Wal-Mart's ethos -- are cheaper than many of those offered at ...

On the same day that founder Michael Dell returned as CEO of his namesake firm, a class-action lawsuit was filed claiming Dell had used rebates from its main business supplier Intel of about $1 billion to inflate its profits. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas. Dell has s...

20th Century Fox has served YouTube and another video-sharing site, LiveDigital, with subpoenas to hand over information about the user who uploaded episodes of the hit TV series "24" before they aired this month. The user also uploaded recent episodes of "The Simpsons." It is not known how YouTube ...